makiwara exist because the japanese weren't smart enough to invent the heavy bag. that's all. they are wholly obsolete. their only saving grace is that they aren't as stupid as what the chinese came up with.

Not quite - makiwara is an Okinawan body conditioning tool. It stays stationery and you just hit it over and over again with bare knuckles to toughen them up so you don't screw yourself up if you hit something hard. Works well, but you have to go slow, and it tends to give you "mountain knuckles" that are not a real good idea if your job includes fine motor skills and sensitivity in your hands and fingers. Nothing at all to do with heavy bag or focus mitt type training.

But I do agree with you about the Wing Chun dummy. Never had any real experience with it, but I don't see a whole lot of benefit.

Not quite - makiwara is an Okinawan body conditioning tool. It stays stationery and you just hit it over and over again with bare knuckles to toughen them up so you don't screw yourself up if you hit something hard. Works well, but you have to go slow, and it tends to give you "mountain knuckles" that are not a real good idea if your job includes fine motor skills and sensitivity in your hands and fingers. Nothing at all to do with heavy bag or focus mitt type training.

i understand what it's for.

what i'm saying is, what it's for - as well as how it goes about it - is fucking stupid.

even if you really did want the knuckle conditioning, that's available from a heavy bag - without the commensurate damage to joints from hitting a non-yielding object.

makiwara make about as much sense as lead paint at this point.

edit: for clarity, i'm not attacking you, i'm attacking the counterproductive attachment to needless romanticised (and often wholly artificial) archaicism that holds back so much of the karate, jma, and tma world.

ive used a makiwara for eight years, i made my own, they are not for the timid, it takes quite a while to toughen the knuckles, i read go slow in another post and thats good advice.
I can quite happily punch full force now for extended periods, the plus point is it turns soft hands to solid granite, some of the sports guys i read, suggested hitting a punch bag with no gloves for this, but it simply doesnt compare, its a soft weak option.
If you look at the methods thai boxers (proper thai boxers) use to toughen up the shins, its not pleaseant, and im sure it takes quite some getting used to.
The makiwara does this for the fists, and does it better than anything made since.
If you buy one, it pays to get the best you can afford, but if you are handy with tools like me, do a DIY version, and make it quality.
The strength, endurance and protenction this training has given to my fists and wrists make punching faces and bodies feel like im punching jelly, a forehead is apt for the smashing and my hands wont feel a thing.

The main question would be whether this type of conditioning is relevant to thai boxing, a makiwara is really no substitute for a punch bag when it comes to practiceing combos,
infact for that, a makiwara has no use, not even to the more linear karateka, but to the more circular attacking style of thai boxing short of impossible.

I had a freind in a similar situation to you, he rolled up a mattress (not easy, a fat heavy relative/friend would be very usefull), and secured it round with rack ties, it free stood on a base, but i will have to ask him how he did that as i only test drove it in its finished state.